caravaning in the october school holidays ................

[frazzledbutcalm]

self explanatory really. Anyone been away in their caravan during october blackberry week holiday? Just wondered what it was like. I'm thinking it may be too cold (i'm soft!), weather too bad to tow, awning may not dry out enough to then pack away for the winter.
We're new to caravanning, only recently bought ours and have been away once. Any advice gratefully received.

anybody?

We were going to go but it hasn't worked out.
How old are your kids? I wouldn't worry about the cold, just have plenty of warm clothes and waterproofs for kids. Plenty of games and things to do inside if it rains a lot and you can't be outside the whole time.

Chose a campground with good shower facitilies so you can have a warm shower in a warm place and a tumble drier.

Thanks Leo. Kids are 15, 9, 5 and 3. Its not the cold as such as caravan has heating. We took lots of games last time, it rained the whole time we were away last time, so we've dealt with all of that. Its more the practial side. Dh says the awning must be completely dry before we put it away for the winter. Will it rot/mould if its not completely dry? What if weather is so bad for towing back home? Just didnt know if October was too late to caravan?

It's never too late to caravan.

The caravan is what we resort to when it's too cold to camp!

We usually head off down to Cornwall for the October one, and our kids are quite happy to get in the surf for a bit of boogie boarding. Best of all you will have the place to yourself.

This year DH has got a different half term to us so we are staying closer to home, within range of his work, and he will head off each morning whilst the kids and I have a break.

Too cold for caravanning..........Never heard the like

I'd go!!Never too late for a holiday! Just make sure your awning is completely dry. It WILL go mouldy if you put it away for the winter wet!

How will i get awning dry if its bad weather? Its too big to put up anywhere when we get back.
We'll def go, im just worried about awning.

We spread our awning out if its wet when we get back BUT take a little heater with you to place in awning overnight and it will help dry it. Also if it is dry the day before you want to come home, take it down - even if its 7 or 8 at night (we did this before quite often and its a saviour if it rains overnight). A lot of sites will let you stay till lunchtime so you should be able to get it dry as long as its not raining. The other thing is that you don't need to spread it out completely to dry it just as long as you keep turning it so that it all dries
We are looking at getting a few days sorted for half term and will use the awning

I hung mine on the washing line until nearly dry rain came on again so i grabbed it and left it spread out in the caravan. Hanging over banister or doors is another option.

We normally go away in October. This year we are going to Chertsey because the dds want to go to Thorpe Park and Chessington's Halloween fright nights. Last year at Blackpool the weather was awful and the awning had a weeks worth of mud and rain on it. Getting that clean and dry wasn't something I'd want to repeat.
Can you live without the awning? We do if it's only for 3 or 4 days.

Can't say I've ever been worried about towing at this time of year, although attempting to tow off from a boggy site is always a heart-sinking moment, especially if people are watching

Make sure your battery is charged up and you have plenty of gas. One site we visited had a power cut for 2 days and we'd run out of gas and couldn't find anywhere that sold it. We froze and swore we'd never caravan again!

Thanks all. I feel much better about awning now. Mystery - Great idea about the heater!
Hamster - We're going to Blackpool!!!
We went away beg. September and the weather was awful, we did have to drive away from mud! Took a few attempts, few choice words from dh, but we pulled away in the end! Can't live without awning, we have 4 dc and use it mainly for storing wet, muddy shoes etc !
Thanks for all advice.